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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060664">Gollum Leaves the Greenwood</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glenstorm63/pseuds/Glenstorm63'>Glenstorm63</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dol Guldur, Elves, Gen, Mirkwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:16:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>690</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060664</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glenstorm63/pseuds/Glenstorm63</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The overkindly elves have given Smeagol too many chances and finally he gets the sign he has been waiting for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gollum Leaves the Greenwood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Smeagol sat high in a great linden tree, looking to the South West.</p>
<p>He sniffed the fresh breeze but squinted against the bright light of the yellow face and after a while, hid his face under a truss of leaves and blossom.</p>
<p>He sneezed at the honey pollen scent and this brought him back to the days of long ago, before the Precious.</p>
<p>Back then, his grandmother would send him and his cousins to gather the blossoms for teas and tonics.</p>
<p>Back then, he had been sharp eyed and nimble alright but not so clever at climbing trees as he had become long since.</p>
<p>Back then, he had been young and had often grumbled, prefering to grub for roots and small wriggling things. Secrets. But the memory made him wistful despite himself and almost Smeagol imagined his friend Deagol was right below him in the branches.</p>
<p>But that wistful memory only made Smeagol sadder and lonelier and that only made him twitchy.</p>
<p>He blinked and looked out again, shading his eyes, watching.</p>
<p>"We needs no old friends precious! We has better friends now... Gollum".</p>
<p>He snarled deep in his throat. "When will the tricksy orcses show us... show us a sign, precious?"</p>
<p>He peered out from under the trusses of leaves across the miles of tossing green canopy towards the south-west. Watching.</p>
<p>There, the Mountains of Mirkwood, crowded with dark pine on the slopes, reared their gaunt grey heads towards the clouds. The vantage point of Dol Guldur. Gollum shivered, not looking forward to the two shrieking ghouls that haunted the place as he had discovered once many years before in his secret wanderings. But at least they would let him free again once they had questioned him and told him where he could find sweet cradled flesh to slake his blood hunger. Of that he was sure.</p>
<p>Gollum gave no thought to the kindness and soft words of the elves or of the wholesome food they were feeding him. Or of the weight he was putting on under their care.</p>
<p>For months, since the bite of winter had first begun to slacken, he had been coming here as often as he could beg the nassty elven guards to bring him and it was now early summer. But today was no different. It was just leaves.</p>
<p>Still, it was better here than down in the deep dungeons of the elves with bright eyes and bright bladeses.</p>
<p>He snuggled into the fork in the branch and closed his eyes and drifted off to a fitful snooze, dreaming of crunchable small bones and plump pink flesh. And a burning golden ring.</p>
<p>The elven guards were at the foot of the tree chatting and keeping an eye on him. They were hidden by trusses of branches and leaves, and Smeagol was high up.</p>
<p>Something... perhaps a tiny shift in the wind made Smeagol open an eye.</p>
<p>There, not thirty yards away, hovered a kestrel.</p>
<p>He stiffened and stared. And slowly sat up.</p>
<p>It was staring right back at him, its head fixed, twisting its tail and wings as it sat in the air with utter ease. Then, it dropped and before he knew what was happening, it was standing clutching the bare branch only a few feet away with one foot. It stared at him with yellow and black eyes, tilting one way and then the other, studying.</p>
<p>Smeagol was terrified it would utter some harsh cry and that he would have elves swarming up the tree to drag him down. But it remained silent. He muttered under his breath. "Ohh hho, yes indeed, tricksy bird. What does it wants?"</p>
<p>Then it was, that Smeagol noticed clutched in the bird's left talons was a small stone on a cord. Smeagol stared at it hard. The Kestrel stared hard back. Then, carefully hooking the cord around a twig, it took off, hovering again silently, watching as Smeagol reached out and picked up the stone. There, scratched onto its surface was the image of a single Eye.</p>
<p>The bird took off, south west, in the direction of the dreaded fortress.</p>
<p>He had only to wait.</p>
<p>...</p>
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